Clutterbuck placed on injured reserve; Wild update

Cal Clutterbuck has been placed on injured reserve with a thigh contusion. The Wild winger technically would be eligible to come off Friday because it’s retroactive to last Thursday’s injury in Edmonton, but coach Mike Yeo said Clutterbuck won’t make the upcoming road trip to Phoenix and Anaheim.

Clutterbuck, who is still sore, will get therapy and then the team will reevaluate him upon its return from out west.

And with no practice Saturday, Clutterbuck will almost assuredly miss Sunday’s rematch against the Oilers.

Including tonight, that puts Clutterbuck out for at least the next four games.

Placing Clutterbuck on IR does open up a roster spot if the Wild wants to bring another body along for the road trip, but Yeo said right now there are no plans for that.

Good day from the press room inside the X. The Wild hosts the Calgary Flames tonight. It’s the Wild’s first game since losing 3-1 to Calgary on Saturday.

Niklas Backstrom gets the nod for the Wild and Joey MacDonald for the Flames.

Lines are the same as yesterday’s blog, with Zenon Konopka sitting up front and Nate Prosser on the back end. Falk had been scratched the past two games and was sick the game before that.

“I want to see him – we’ve seen it in definitely parts of this year – big body and I want to see him use it,” Yeo said. “He’s got to be tough to play against. Positionally, he’s been doing a good job for us. One-on-one, he’s been strong. I want to see him make a good first pass and bring a physical element to the game. That’s the foundation of who he is.”

Prosser hasn’t been on the ice for a goal this year, but with Yeo wanting to get Falk back in, Yeo said Prosser was chosen to sit because the lefty-righty thing. In my opinion, Jared Spurgeon hasn’t played the greatest since his return from a bone bruise, but he is on the power play, so Prosser sits.

Falk will be paired with veteran Tom Gilbert, while Clayton Stoner, who has been paired with Gilbert pretty much since the opener, will skate alongside Spurgeon.

On breaking up Stoner and Gilbert, Yeo said, “I can’t say they’ve been completely on top of their game. Some of it is getting Spurg going, and Stony and Spurg have played some really good hockey as well together.”

Today is Mikael Granlund’s 21st birthday. I’ll lead my notebook most likely with him for tomorrow’s paper.

I will be on Fox Sports North’s Wild Live at 6:30 p.m. tonight, as well as the first intermission. Talk to you tonight.

Michael Russo has covered the National Hockey League since 1995. He has covered the Minnesota Wild for the Star Tribune since 2005, after 10 years of covering the Florida Panthers for the Sun-Sentinel. He uses “Russo’s Rants” to feed a wide-ranging hockey-centric discussion with readers, and can be heard weekly on KFAN (100.3 FM) radio and seen weekly on Fox Sports North.